


Too Full of Love

by usssamwell



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Implied childhood trauma, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 03:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9105613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usssamwell/pseuds/usssamwell
Summary: Soulmate AU where your soulmate can summon you once in their life. Alexei accidentally summons his when he was very young.-When Alexei was young his Mama would always shake her head and say “Mishka, you are too full of love.”  It wasn't a bad thing, she’d tell him, but for someone so small how did he have so much room for it all? He would always help the teachers at the end of class by putting the books away or carrying things for them. On Sundays he would walk with his Grandmother to the market and hold her basket the entire time, even when his little hands struggled to keep the handle up. You would always find him playing with the little girls down the street, helping weave flowers into their hair like he did his cousin. Wherever he went Alexei would let the people into his heart and never wanted to shut anybody out. He wanted everybody to feel special.





	

When Alexei was young his Mama would always shake her head and say “Mishka, you are too full of love.” It wasn't a bad thing, she’d tell him, but for someone so small how did he have so much room for it all? He would always help the teachers at the end of class by putting the books away or carrying things for them. On Sundays he would walk with his Grandmother to the market and hold her basket the entire time, even when his little hands struggled to keep the handle up. You would always find him playing with the little girls down the street, helping weave flowers into their hair like he did his cousin. Wherever he went Alexei would let the people into his heart and never wanted to shut anybody out. He wanted everybody to feel special. 

Although Alexei shared his love with everyone, not everybody wanted his love. The boys at school would sneer when he helped the teacher and laugh when he ran off with the girls at lunch. It wasn't right, or so they'd say. They told him so when they pressed him against the wall one lunch time. Told him how he was too small and girly. That he had best scurry away like the mouse he was because nobody wanted him there. Alexei had never felt so small and wished someone would come and help. Pressed up against the wall he waited for the first blow to strike.

But it never came. 

When Alexei opened his eyes he saw a new boy standing there. A boy with sunshine hair. Instead of anger in his bullies faces he saw wide eyes and open jaws and soon they would run away. He didn’t know what the sunshine boy had done but he didn’t care, he had saved him.

“Thank you!” Alexei beamed, walking forward to shake the young boy’s hand. “Thank you for helping me! I’m Alexei!”

The sunshine boy turned and Alexei swore his young heart broke that day. The boy’s eyes were full blown in fear, clutching his shirt tight, and he spoke a different language. Alexei knew it was English, had just started studying it in class, but didn’t know a single word just then. It didn’t matter anyway because before he got to say a single word the boy vanished into thin air and Alexei ran the whole way home.

It took his Mama an entire hour to calm him down and then only five minutes to get the story out of him. She listened as he waved his tiny hands and paced around the room, managing to only frown when he mentioned the boys from school. When he'd finished she patted the space on her lap and allowed Alexei to climb up. 

“Mishka, when we are born we are made in two parts. One part of you is here,” she said, pointing to his heart. “The other is elsewhere. Sometimes it is in the house next door or in a different city. Sometimes it is miles away but it is there. There are times when our halves hurt too much, that they call out for their other half and the other one comes running. That's what happened today. Your half called and your other came to you. Do you understand?”

Alexei nodded, not wanting to stop his Mama from talking.

“You can only call your other half once, Mishka. They come when you need them most. You are very lucky to have already seen your half, some people wait years. Papa made me wait many years before he called me. This means, Alexei, you have a long wait ahead of you and when they call you you must be ready. You won’t get another chance, okay?”

To young Alexei it all seemed a little bit too much. He was too small to be there for his other half, how could he help? But he knew that when it would happened he would do anything he could. He never wanted his other half to feel as scared as he did and when the time would come he would pour all the love he had into helping him. Mama always said he had too much love and now he knew why and he couldn't wait to share it all. 

-

Kent hated galas. Freaking hated them with a bloody passion and just because he did sort of alright at hockey he had to go to bloody all of them. The one good thing about this gala was that they’d stuck him on a table with Jeff and Tater. After that game back at the start of the season him and Tater had managed to patch things up, though mainly through their love of Britney. You just can’t hate a man with impeccable music taste Kent had smirked. That however quickly ended when the topic moved onto the subject of soulmates. 

Frankly Kent couldn't give a flying fuck and lets move onto the new Disney movie, what the fuck did you guys think, huh? However the others didn’t quite share his share his train of thought and were swapping their transporting stories. Even Jeff joined him and he glared the entire time at the mutinous dog whilst downing his champagne. It didn’t help that one of the people at his table had just married his soulmate. It meant until the appropriate time to leave he was stuck where he was. 

It wasn't that Kent had a problem with the whole soulmate thing or couples in general, it’s just that he never had any bloody luck in the past when it came to relationships and the whole soulmate thing was a whole other level of fucked up. Being summoned when you're young is never an easy thing and it fucked him up three ways on Sunday. He didn’t really like to talk about it and luckily nobody ever really made him but he did have to listen to the stories. Jeff had just finished his and everyone was chuckling at the whole being summoned into a mess of chocolate pudding thing when Tater has slammed his hand down on the table.

“Okay, my turn to tell story!” He paused but it was obvious no one was going to interrupt him. “When I young I very tiny, tiny like mouse. Not seem right, looking at me now, but it true. Mama would shake head and call me her little mouse. Mishka, you too tiny when will grow? Though when I grow taller than her she tell me stop, too tall now.” 

Kent chuckled at the idea of a tiny little lady staring up at her giant of a son telling him to stop growing with such ferocity. Mama Mashkov would be an intimidating women no doubt. 

“So I always be small and you know how young boys be. Very mean, want others to be like them. It was one day when three of them had me against old school wall and I so scared. If they try now I laugh, too big now they not try. But then I very small and very scared. When I next open eyes there was another boy. With very bright hair.”

Stopping mid sip Kent started to feel a tightening in his chest. Three young boys in front of another one? It just had to be a coincidence. Three boys in Russia and another one pressed against a wall. Yeah, could be any brunette Russian boy. Totally. 

“Bullies ran away but boy with bright yellow hair stay. I try to thank but he speak English and look so scared.” 

An English speaking boy with yellow hair? Loads of countries spoke English, doesn’t mean he was an American boy. Fuck, was the room always so small?

“He go back after that and I ran all way home to Mama, she tell me how the boy was my other half and I swear then I find him and pay him back for saving him. So I start learning English more, as you can tell I not always the best student but I try,” Alexei smiled. Kent loosened him tie, feeling his neck grow tighter. God, this is why he hated soulmate talk. “Then I start learning hockey. I much better at that.”

“Hockey? What the fuck does hockey got to do with it, Tater?” Jeff laughed.

“Soulmate! He wear hockey jersey. Big one with blue, white and red. We need to have talk when I meet because no soulmate of mine is being a New York Rangers fan,” he chuckled. 

Lots of yellow haired little boys were Ranger fans. Lots of little yellow haired boys were Ranger fans and had Russian soulmates. That summoned them when they were very tiny and in the middle of something terrible and then sent them back to that terrible thing and there must be lots of them and it didn’t mean he was Tater’s soulmate at all, it was just a coincidence and nothing else. Nothing else.

“Though he need to take better care, he had giant stain on front of shirt.”

A New York Rangers jersey with a giant stain belonging to a yellow haired little boy who appeared in front of three boys and whose soulmate just happens to be Russian? Ha. Oh god, the room was definitely spinning now and Kent could feel a laughter bubbling in his chest that he needed to squash because now was not the time oh sweet Jesus.

“He have hockey shirt on so I look up team and say to myself ‘Alexei, you start play hockey and go to America to find soulmate’ and I do! So now I here and I wait. Been waiting very long but will wait more. Be there on day he need help. Make him feel safe.”

Kent knew he couldn't continue sitting there, he had to get out of there as soon as possible. Otherwise he'd have to explain to the entire table why he was hyperventilating and rocking back and forth. Hi, yes I’m fine, it’s just that I just figured out that I am Tater’s soulmate and I spent most of my childhood growing up wishing he hadn't summoned me so soon because I haven't been able to protect myself and yet was expected to protect him and turned up in a foreign country with no familiar faces and grew up thinking I’d never be enough and I know I won’t be and can I go now, yes? Yes. Excusing himself from the table Kent ran to the bathroom and locked the door. 

Turning the faucet on Kent gripped the edge of the sink and tried to take deep breaths. After all these years he had to go and find his soulmate at a bloody hockey gala and it just had to be the one who picked him up on the ice by his neck and threatened to hit him. And yes, they were past all that but still it happened and okay it didn’t make it any easier. Everything would be easier if he could just breathe right but no his lungs hated him. Why couldn't he bre-

“Kent?”

Kent felt a chill shiver down his spine. Shit. He'd only gone and accidentally summoned Tater to the bathroom and now everybody at the table would know where he’s gone. Kent Parson, luckiest fucker on the planet. There was a hand on his back now, rubbing smooth circles. He wasn't exactly sure what the voice in his ear was saying but it was somewhat comforting and at least it was helping. It must have been about ten minutes before the world started to feel like it was righting itself. The weight on his chest didn't feel so heavy and somehow the faucet was off.

“Better?” Kent nodded, not feeling able to talk right now. “How about we go somewhere else now? Not stay here? We go back to hotel room. Yours, maybe mine; we maybe talk or you just kick me out. Don’t mind.”

Kent nodded again, looked up again and smiled stiffly and when he did Tater disappeared. Well not so much disappeared but popped up back at the table and soon would be making his way to the bathroom to find Kent. He could do this, he really could. 

When the knock on the door came Kent stood up straight, walked to the door and opened it with his trademark smirk. Tater smiled briefly on the other side and then they made their way to Kent’s hotel room.

-

Honestly if the bed would swallow him up whole he would have preferred it but instead he was sitting opposite Alexei freaking Mashkov also known as his soulmate and he had a LOT of explaining to do. 

“So,” Tater smiled. “Rangers fan?”

Looking down at his hands Kent let out a dry laugh. 

“Not any more.”

“Glad, Rangers not good enough. Was worried growing up I’d have to ch-“

“Look, Tater, it’s okay for you to just cut this short and leave now. You don’t have to draw it out and pretend that you want to make this work. I know I’m a shitty person and I’m not worth having so like can you just get it over with so I can cry for a bit then repress it like everything else I do?” 

When he was met with silence Kent first assumed that Tater has left but he didn’t hear any footsteps or the door open and close. Looking up he saw that Tater was still sitting opposite him, his brow furrowed. 

“Kent, I not going anywhere,” Alexei said firmly. He reached over, taking Kent's hand in his own. “I not know what makes you think you are bad person but you are not to me. For years you have been the person that save me. Whatever happen I not care, I care about you as person.”

“Tate-”

“Alexei. If feel comfortable. We have ages to talk about past things and things we did wrong. Maybe you did do something wrong, maybe I think otherwise. Maybe I do bad too but it does not matter. I have all this love and it all for you. Whether you want or not.”

“I can’t be there to help you, Tater. I couldn't help myself. I won’t be able to help you.”

“And you don’t need to. You don’t need to help, just be there to hold hand. Maybe rub back. You not need to do anything big. When I was little Mama always say ‘Mishka, you are full of too much love’ and when I find out about other half of self I understand. Too much love because it was for you. Not know it you yet but still for you.” Alexei started rubbing circles with his thumb on Kent’s hand and Kent swore that he was not going to cry. “If you have me I will always be there. We fight world together and not leave it all to one.”

The tears started falling now and Kent didn’t care any more. Fuck, he could do this. His therapist had assured him he could, he was better than the things that happened to him. It was never his fault and he couldn't have saved himself so he shouldn't feel as if he’s worthless and couldn't be there for others. The laugh that came out of his chest felt forced but it was okay. It was all going to be okay. 

“So what’s Mishka mean?”

“Little mouse,” Alexei smiled. “I tell you I very tiny child. Tiny child with giant heart... I mean it, it yours if you want. You give me hockey, make me look after others, saved me; you already have given me so much. I just want to give back to you. You think you let me?”

“Yes… I think I can,” Kent nodded, turning over their hands so he can link them together. It wasn't much but it was a start. Though if the smile that Alexei sent him was anything to go by then it was definitely going to be worth it.

-

When Alexei was young his Mama would always shake her head and say “Mishka, you are too full of love.” It wasn't a bad thing, she’d tell him, but for someone so small how did he have so much room for it all? When he found out about soulmates he thought that it was because it was all for them. As he got older he was still full of so much love. His Mama would look up and him, shake her head and say “Mishka, you too tall. Too full of love still. Love make you grow too tall, get down here.” Alexei had laughed, kissed her on the cheek and picked her up in a massive hug. Mama had whacked him on the arm. 

Now he spends his evenings on long phone calls, swapping sweet words and ridiculous stories. On free weekends he takes a quick plane and spends mornings curled up in blankets and a cat resting next to his head. Sometimes it is spent curled up in his bed instead. When he goes to Vegas for a game he never has to book a hotel. On off season there are arguments on where to spend it and which family they visit first. The days where they dance around to Britney in their underwear together before melting into the sheets. Late at night are talks about the past and things they've tried to forget. Those nights are where they cling the hardest and the next morning is spent eating junk food and hoping their nutritionists don’t find out. 

His days with Kent are amazing and he loves every moment of it. He calls Kent his sunshine, like the hair he remembers from the first day he saw him. Kent snorts and tells him there is nothing sunshine about him. When Kent is feeling extra playful he lightly pushes Alexei and calls him Mishka (he hardly ever calls him Tater anymore). In response Alexei calls him his kitten, his kotyenok. It takes ten minutes for him to calm Kent down and find out why he was laughing so hard.

“What is it? What say wrong?”

“Kotyenok and Mishka. Cat and mouse, Alexei! We’re freaking Tom & Jerry oh my god this is perfect!”

The rest of the day is lost and it takes Alexei about two weeks until he is able to call Kent his kotyenok again.

Growing up Alexei was told that he was filled with too much love and even now that he’s grown he still feels like that is true. He isn't sure how he has room for it all, he doesn’t think he ever will but he knows that there is always more to give. Now he’s whole there's so much more, more love than he knows what to do with, but he spends his day giving his love to his other half in every possible way he could think of and he couldn't be happier. He still has so much more to give and he has the rest of their lives in which to do it.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt of tumblr that kind of got away from me. I enjoyed every moment though. 
> 
> One day I will stop being mean to Kent. I love him but all I ever do is want to cause him pain and make him love Britney.


End file.
